september 30, 2014
DESCRIPTION
MSU Reporter (Minnesota State University, Mankato)TRANSCRIPT
INSIDE: MAVERICK HOCKEY PREVIEW - PG. 17ED/OP
8SPORTS
17A&E
25
www.msureporter.comMinnesota State University, Mankato
facebook.com/msureporter
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
www.msureporter.comMinnesota State University, Mankato
facebook.com/msureporter
@msureporter
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
WEDNESDAY High: 71 Low: 52
A couple of thunderstormsTHURSDAY High: 67 Low: 45
Mostly cloudyTUESDAY High: 68 Low: 57
Some sun, then clouds
HOMECOMING WEEK 2014
Best One Yet
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 MSU Reporter • 17
Email the Sports Editor:[email protected]
507-389-5227
Follow the Reporteron Twitter
@MSU Reporter orLike Us on Facebook
facebook.com/msureporter
Mavericks take top of preseason pollsThe WCHA Preseason polls are out and the Mavericks found themselves on top before the 2014-2015 season is underway.
The Minnesota State Univer-sity, Mankato Maverick men’s hockey team ended last win-ter with their best season in the program’s division I history, and come into this season with equal-ly high expectations.
In 2013-2014, the Mavs set a program record with 26 wins when they compiled a 26-14-1 record on their way to finishing second in the Western Colle-giate Hockey Association, their highest finish in 14 seasons in the conference. They kept roll-ing into the postseason and won their first Broadmoor Trophy as the WCHA Final Five Tourna-ment champions, giving them an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Though MSU lost to UMass-Lowell in the first round of the NCAA tournament, it was the first back-to-back NCAA tour-nament appearance in the pro-gram’s division I history, and third overall in that era. They fell short of their goal of making it to the Frozen Four for the first time in program history, but the suc-cess they did have is building this
program into a consistent top-20 team.
Looking ahead to this season, the Mavs have to replace last year’s captain and leading goal scorer Johnny McInnis, who fin-ished with 21 on the year. His scoring touch will be missed as he has begun his professional career playing in the Colorado Avalanche minor league system. But MSU brings back plenty of firepower and some freshmen with high expectations to keep this team rising to the top of col-lege hockey.
On Monday, coaches and me-dia around the WCHA took to voting on the preseason favorite to win the MacNaughton Cup as the regular season champions, as well as voting on preseason indi-vidual honors and all-conference teams.
The Mavericks received a lot of recognition in these polls, re-ceiving nine of 10 coaches votes to finish first in the league. Ferris State, last season’s MacNaugh-ton Cup champions, received the only other first place vote.
Head Coach Mike Hastings felt honored to have his team voted as the favorite to win the
conference, but he knew it was just a poll.
“It doesn’t spot us a goal or give us a win,” said Hastings.
Aside from the team as a whole, there were some individu-als who received some recogni-tion today during the poll voting.
Senior forward Matt Leitner, the Mavericks’ leading scorer the past three seasons, was the media’s choice for preseason WCHA Player of the Year, while also being named to the pre-season All-WCHA team. Team-mates Jean-Paul LaFontaine and Zach Palmquist were also named to the preseason All-WCHA team, while freshmen C.J. Franklin and Brad McClure tied in the coach’s poll for preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year.
While the preseason honors may be flattering and show that MSU will again bring a competi-tive team to the ice, they’ll need to show up and earn it in a tough WCHA conference. But let’s look at what the Mavs have in their lineup that earned them the
MSU Reporter ArchivesSenior Jean-Paul Lafontaine ranked second in the country in power play goals with 14 last season.
Women’s soccer playing the Maverick way in 2014With eight wins in eight games, the Mavericks have outscored their opponents 25-2 so far this season.
Trevor Cokley • MSU ReporterThe Mavericks’ 8-0 record comprises of a 4-0 record at home, 4-0 record on the road and a 5-0 in conference play.
With the 2014 Minnesota State University, Mankato wom-en’s soccer team’s season under-way, they have taken-off on the right path.
“We have a lot of depth this season,” head coach Brian Bahl said. “There is so much athleti-cism and speed on this team.”
Coach Bahl has continued to stress to me that his team plays as one, and there is not one person to single out ever.
“We like to keep everything team oriented, and keep in mind we perform as one,” Bahl said.
Game one saw the Maver-icks beating the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs 1-0 at Southwestern Oklahoma State. Senior goalkeeper Molly Mc-
Gough and the rest of the Mavs defense pitched the shutout, only having one shot on goal put to-wards them. The single goal scored in the game was by senior Emily Moris, as she also had a to-tal of three shots on goal. Sopho-more Kiana Nickel also had two shots on goal. Junior Emily Er-ickson, Sophomore Dana Savino, Junior Jessica Bowe, Senior Syd-ney Temple and Senior Rebecca Pederson each had one shot on goal.
Game two was in Edmond, Okla. was against Central Okla-homa, as the Mavericks earned their second-consecutive shutout against the Broncos, 3-0. Junior Korey Kronforst had a pair of goals to lead the offense. Kron-
MEN’S HOCKEY • Page 22
WOMEN’S SOCCER • Page 23
TOMMY WIITAStaff Writer
DEREK LAMBERTStaff Writer
18 • MSU Reporter Sports Tuesday, September 30, 2014
MANKATO HILLTOP on MADISON AVENUE1856 MADISON AVENUE
507-344-1554
NORTH MANKATO on COMMERCE DRIVE1680 COMMERCE DRIVE
507-345-1680Based on purchase at regular menu price. Please no substitutions. Not valid with any other offer. Walue 1/200 cent. Limit one coupon
per person per visit. Valid only at Mankato and North Mankato Culver's® restaurants. Expires 10/31/14.
BUY ACONCRETE MIXER
& GET ASECOND FREE !
Expires October 31, 2014. Good at Mankato and North Mankato Culver’s Only. Not valid with any other discounts. One coupon per person per visit. Must present coupon. Purchase First Mixer at Regular Price and Get Another Equal To or Lessor in Value.
OPEN UNTIL
10:00 P.M.
FREEMIXER
TWILIGHT GOLF3:00 pm Every Day
Unlimited GolfJust $17 + tax (walking)
or
Just $25 + tax (with cart)
507-947-3355www.northlinksgolf.com
Second-half surge brings Mavericks to 4-0 record
Trevor Cokley • MSU ReporterRunning back Connor Thomas (above) rushed 22 times for 118 yards and a touchdown last Saturday.
Minnesota State University, Mankato wins 34-16 over the Bemidji State Beavers.
Things didn’t look good for the Mavericks early in the game as Bemidji scored a field goal and a touchdown in the first quarter to put them ahead 10-0. After that MSU’s offense started to click and scored on a touchdown run of one yard by Nick Pierucci-ni. The Mavericks took over the game after that, outscoring the Beavers 28-6 in the second half.
Ricky Lloyd led the Maver-icks in the air completing 9-15
passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw one interception and his longest pass went for 39 yards while. Pieruc-cini completed 7-10 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown. Both Pieruccini and Lloyd rushed for one touchdown.
Dorian Buford led the Mav-erick’s with four receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Riggot brought down four receptions for 66 yards and Aus-tin Rieder had a long reception of 39 yards, he had a total of three receptions for 63 yards.
The Beavers couldn’t keep up with MSU’s run game as Con-nor Thomas exploded out of the
back field on 22 attempts he had 118 yards and one touchdown. Thomas’ longest rush was for 54 yards.
On defense the Maverick’s showed up and did work with Josh Gordon getting eight tack-les and three sacks for a loss of 13 yards. Tyler Henderson led the team with 11 tackles, one sacks and three pass deflections.
MSU totaled four turnovers during the game. Rob Myers picked off two passes and Nathan Hancock intercepted the third pass. Justin Otto recovered a fumble forced by Harris Rumeal. The Mavericks also held Bemidji to 40 rushing yards and only av-
eraged 1.7 yards per carry. The 4-0 Mavericks are still
ranked third in the AFCA poll. MSU will take on South West Minnesota State for its home-
coming game Saturday at 2 p.m. SMSU lost to Northern State
JOHN WALFOORTStaff Writer
The no. 3 Mavericks scored 28 second-half points to defeat Bemidji State 34-16.
FOOTBALL • Page 21
The Minnesota State Univer-sity, Mankato volleyball team traveled to North Dakota over the weekend, and was able to bring out two big wins in NSIC play. The Mavericks started out the weekend with a five-set match against Minot State, then won in straight sets in Bismarck against University of Mary.
The Mavericks started the
match in set one going into extra points, but to do that the Maver-icks had to battle back and make some plays. Early in the set, Mi-not State opened up the set on an impressive 6-2 run, taking an early lead. MSU was able to get Trevor Cokley • MSU Reporter
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 Sports MSU Reporter • 19
OPEN DAILY: Monday-Thursday | 11am-2amFriday & Saturday | 9am-2amSunday | 8am-2am
featuring
1325 MADISON AVENUE507-389-8999
www.bustersbar.com
16oz. Pounders ALL DAY (select brands)
Breakfast Buffet 8AM-9AM
Breakfast Buffet 9AM-NOON
$1$3
$5
BUSTER'S THROWBACK
HOMECOMING PARTY!
Shuttles from various campus
locations! Call 389-8999
for details.
Join Us forthe Most FUN Homecoming
Party!!
DJ
GAMES
BUDGIRLS
PRIZES
• Used parts, cars, trucks & repairables!• Purchasing all grades of metal!• Including Appliances• Free Pick Up of Junk Cars!• Friendly, Reliable Service• Top Dollar Paid• Online Parts Search
Need to scrap your vehicle?$$ CALL US $$
HOURS:Mon.-Fri., 8-5
507-524-3735(10 miles south on Hwy. 22)
BANDRAUTOTRUCKSALVAGE.COM
George's City Meats& Sausage Shop
ATTENTION HUNTERS
(507) 232-3502Nicollet, MN 56074
West of Hwy. Jct. 99 & 11
We do Whole Deer Processing- also Elk, Antelope & Bear
Specializing in: Sausages, Brats, Snack Stix, Jerky & More
All meat is processed separately.
Volleyball team adds another weekend sweep
Trevor Cokley • MSU ReporterAlice sat on the mushroom, pondering her fate. “One side will make me grow larger and the other side will make me smaller.”
After losing to Winona State during the week, the Maver-
icks retaliated with two victo-ries over this past weekend.
The Minnesota State Univer-sity, Mankato volleyball team traveled to North Dakota over the weekend, and was able to bring out two big wins in NSIC play. The Mavericks started out the weekend with a five-set match against Minot State, then won in straight sets in Bismarck against University of Mary.
The Mavericks started the
match in set one going into extra points, but to do that the Maver-icks had to battle back and make some plays. Early in the set, Mi-not State opened up the set on an impressive 6-2 run, taking an early lead. MSU was able to get
things going after that, settling in and putting up five-straight points to give them a 10-8 lead, and back into the set. Minot State used the help of a 5-2 run, and took a 19-16 lead. MSU needed to play a little catch up, and with kills from Krista Hassing and Courtney Anderson the Maver-icks were able to make things interesting, setting the score at 23-22. The Minot State Beavers were one point from a set vic-tory, but they committed back-to-back errors and allowed MSU to get back into the set. Going into extra points, the Mavericks put together three-straight points finishing it off with an ace from Jenna McNallan to win the set 29-27.
After an exciting first set, the Mavericks looked to take set number two. MSU jumped out to an 11-6 lead with the help of six-straight points, looking to be in the driver’s seat. Minot State was able to put together an 8-2 run, taking a 14-13 lead. MSU tied things up at 17 with a Hassing kill, but Minot State put togeth-er five points in a row and took a 22-17 lead, and never looked back. Minot used the late run to win set two 25-20.
Set three opened up and it looked like it may go into extra points as things were tied 13
times, but the end result did not prove to be as good as set one. With the score tied up at 14, Mi-not State took an 11-2 run, and ran to a set-three victory 25-16.
MSU needed to take the next two sets to win the match, and they were up to the challenge.
The Mavericks were able to take an early lead, leading 11-9. MSU then used an 8-3 run to extend their lead. A kill from Chandra Honebrink extended their lead to five. Minot State made things interesting using a four-point run to come within one, 23-22. Hon-
ebrink and Vikolia Meade ended the set with back-to-back kills, 25-22.
The crucial set five was about as close as they come; MSU used a three-point run to edge out a
9-7 lead. Minot State countered with their own three-point run to take an 11-10 lead. MSU stormed back with a four point run, and then a Honebrink kill ended the match with the Mavericks pre-vailing 3-2, with a 15-13 win.
Honebrink led the Mavericks with 18 kills, and Hassing added 11 kills of her own. Ellie Van De Steeg led the team with 52 as-sist. Defensively, the Mavericks were led by Haley Fogarty with 17 digs, followed by 15 from Van De Steeg.
The Mavericks traveled to Bismarck to take on University of Mary, and the Mavericks end-ed the North Dakota trip with a sweep.
In set number one, MSU took
VOLLEYBALL • Page 21
Haley Fogarty
Haley Doran
LUKE LONIENStaff Writer
20 • MSU Reporter Sports Tuesday, September 30, 2014
NOW HIRING EXPERIENCED CONSTRUCTION CREW
Cleary Building is seeking responsible, hard working, energetic personnel to join our family
owned business!! Construction experience is REQUIRED. Must have a clean driving record and valid DL. Competitive wages and full benefits.
Must be able to travel and work some weekends!!
APPLY TODAY!!www.workforclearybuildingcorp.com
20969 549th AveMankato, MN 56001
507-625-5170
Griak Invitational ReviewWhile the women’s cross country team
took 15th at the University of Minne-sota, the men’s team followed close to
suite with an 11th-place finish.
Photo Courtesy of Minnesota State Athletics
The Minnesota State Univer-sity, Mankato women’s cross country team competed at the 29th annual 2014 Roy Griak In-
vitational meet this past weekend in Minneapolis.
“The race went alright on Sat-urday,” head coach Jen Blue said. “It was hot and humid so the times were a little slower than last year’s when we raced on that course, but I’m content with our performances.”
Placing 15th, the Mavs were led once again by the senior-freshman duo of Marina Paul and Erin Baker. Paul, coming in at 46th overall, was first for the Mavericks with a time of 23:59, followed by Baker’s time of 24:19, which gave her 61st place. Senior Stephanie Steen-hoek came in 25:02, earning her a place at 95th and sophomore Maddi Sjelin coming in 99th ran a time of 25:07 was fourth for the
team. “They are having some good
workouts and moving in the right direction,” coach Blue says. “We just need to work on getting ev-eryone healthy and put all the pieces together on the same day.”
As for the men’s cross coun-
Josiah Swanson
Erin Baker
Stephanie Steenhoek
DENZELL CASTRO-OATSStaff Writer
try team at the Griak meet, they finished 11th, combining a score of 316 points. The Mavs were 15 points outside of Fort Lewis who finished 10th and 24 points behind the ninth-place team Morningside. The 8k competi-tion however was overtaken by Wisconsin-Parkside, who scored 90 points.
The men’s team was led by senior Josiah Swanson, who fin-ished 41st overall with a time of 27:23. Following behind Swan-son was junior Matt Longen, who finished 51st at 27:38. Ju-nior Ryan Ness running a time of 27:43 was in at 56th and was third for the Mav team. Fresh-man Michael Hoff was 59th overall running a time of 27:45 and rounding out the top four spots.
“Overall I think we had a pretty good showing at the Gri-ak Meet,” Hoff said. “Despite it being a very hot and humid day for competition, everyone races under the same conditions. It all comes down to who can run tougher and smarter.”
The weather clearly affected everyone’s performance this weekend and was a factor in the
competition. At last year’s 2013
Griak competition, temperatures
sat in the comfortable mid 60’s, which is scientifically proven “ideal running weather”. But this past weekend was different. Hav-ing to compete in temperatures reaching the high 80’s was a challenge for the Maverick cross teams, but not an unfamiliar one.
Despite the weather, this was a perfect opportunity not only to test the Mavs physically, but mentally as well.
“The Griak course is tough in itself. It’s a hilly course and it was pretty hot,” Sjelin said. “And with a lot of competitive teams, mental toughness is a key factor in races like this.”
The Women’s cross-country team is off the next few week-ends and will race again Oct. 24 at the Bob Waxlax Invitational in St. Cloud. The conference meet will follow and is Nov. 8 in Wayne, Neb.
The Men’s team will compete Oct. 18 at the Jim Drew’s invite in La Crosse, Wisc. Following that meet the team will be in Wayne, Neb. for the 2014 NSIC conference championship meet.
Justin Otto
a 3-1 lead early and never looked back. Back-to-back aces by An-derson extended the lead to 7-4. MSU was able to get back-to-back points seven times the rest of the match, and rode the quick points to a 25-17 win.
Set two was a blowout. The Mavericks got a quick 7-1 lead, then extended the lead to 10-4. MSU then used a huge 11-point run, to take a 21-4 lead, the run started with three kills in row by McNallan, followed by three service aces by Honebrink, and ended with a An-derson kill. A kill by Hassing ended the blowout with a 25-8 victory, and complete control of the match leading 2-0.
MSU did not stop after the second match; they jumped out to a 9-1 lead early in the set. UM used an 8-3 run to get back into the set trailing by only 4. MSU ended the set on a 13-5 run, finishing the
Trevor Cokley • MSU ReporterThe Volleyball team owns a 9-4 overall record with a 5-1 conference record.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 Sports MSU Reporter • 21
Go Mavs!Stop in for all your Homecoming needs!
1501 North Riverfront Drive, Mankato
(507) 388-5555
Warning: Our Food May Become Slightly Addictive.
501 Holly LaneSuite 4
Mankato, MN 56001
(Right off corner of Victory Drive and Madison Avenue)
507-345-3567www.bullchicks.com
BURGERS • WRAPS • WINGSSALADS • SANDWICHESDomestic and Craft Beer Available
Now Serving Wine!
10% OFF with student ID
Griak competition, temperatures
sat in the comfortable mid 60’s, which is scientifically proven “ideal running weather”. But this past weekend was different. Hav-ing to compete in temperatures reaching the high 80’s was a challenge for the Maverick cross teams, but not an unfamiliar one.
Despite the weather, this was a perfect opportunity not only to test the Mavs physically, but mentally as well.
“The Griak course is tough in itself. It’s a hilly course and it was pretty hot,” Sjelin said. “And with a lot of competitive teams, mental toughness is a key factor in races like this.”
The Women’s cross-country team is off the next few week-ends and will race again Oct. 24 at the Bob Waxlax Invitational in St. Cloud. The conference meet will follow and is Nov. 8 in Wayne, Neb.
The Men’s team will compete Oct. 18 at the Jim Drew’s invite in La Crosse, Wisc. Following that meet the team will be in Wayne, Neb. for the 2014 NSIC conference championship meet.
Saturday 43-46 and has a 1-3
record. Even though SMSU lost they put up a good fight, Charlie Kern completed 31-43 passes for 298 yard and four touchdowns. He did throw three interceptions
in the game, which could mean big numbers for MSU’s second-ary coming into Saturday. Kern was also sacked once during the game. The Maverick’s defensive line has been raking in the sacks the past few weeks so this could mean good news for them.
SMSU had a total of 141 yards rushing and seemed to evenly distribute the ball amongst its running backs. The same goes for receivers; there weren’t any stand out performers during the game receiving. Adam Olson caught six passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns. With the way MSU’s secondary has been playing lately, holding Bemidji State to 264 passing yards and 23-44 in the air, it should be a good game.
The Mavericks should pull the
win out this Saturday for home-coming. Although, they didn’t have a record breaking game against the Beavers, it should be interesting how they fair against SMSU.
Justin Otto
FOOTBALL The 4-0 Mavericks are still ranked third in the AFCA poll... SMSU lost to Northern State Saturday 46-43 and has a 1-3 record.” continued from 18
Ricky Lloyd
Trevor Cokley • MSU ReporterBemidji’s 16 points brings the 2014 total to 29 points that the Mavericks have allowed in four games.
a 3-1 lead early and never looked back. Back-to-back aces by An-derson extended the lead to 7-4. MSU was able to get back-to-back points seven times the rest of the match, and rode the quick points to a 25-17 win.
Set two was a blowout. The Mavericks got a quick 7-1 lead, then extended the lead to 10-4. MSU then used a huge 11-point run, to take a 21-4 lead, the run started with three kills in row by McNallan, followed by three service aces by Honebrink, and ended with a An-derson kill. A kill by Hassing ended the blowout with a 25-8 victory, and complete control of the match leading 2-0.
MSU did not stop after the second match; they jumped out to a 9-1 lead early in the set. UM used an 8-3 run to get back into the set trailing by only 4. MSU ended the set on a 13-5 run, finishing the
VOLLEYBALL “Finding a way to win is what we have gotten better at most this season, and if we can continue to get better overall that will get easier for us,” Amundson said.continued from 19
match with a sweep. The Maver-icks took the final set 25-13.
Anderson led the team on the offensive side of the match, reg-istering 8 kills, while Hassing added in 7 kills of her own. Ellie
Van De Steeg led the Mavericks with 32 assist. Honebrink led the way with eight digs, followed by McNallan and Fogarty who col-lected 7 digs each respectively.
Coach Dennis Amundson has been impressed with how the team has found ways to win this season.
“We just got back to playing volleyball. We had a tough night on Friday, but we found a way to win. Then on Saturday we were able to get on a role, and just had a lot of fun with it,” Amundson said. “Finding a way to win is what we have we have gotten bet-ter at most this season, and if we can continue to get better overall that will get easier for us.”
The Mavericks come back home to the Taylor Center to take on Minnesota Crookston on Friday. They then take on Bem-dji State in the Taylor Center on Saturday.
Ellie Van De Steeg
Trevor Cokley • MSU ReporterThe Volleyball team owns a 9-4 overall record with a 5-1 conference record.
22 • MSU Reporter Sports Tuesday, September 30, 2014
COME EXPERIENCE TRUE BUFFET HEAVEN
507-386-7077Right off intersection of Madison Ave. & Victory Dr.
Bringing in a crowd of hungry friends?
Challenge accepted.
COLLEGE NIGHTSUNDAYS|4:30-8PM
$6.49 BUFFETfor students who present their student i.d.
BUFFET HOURS:Monday-Friday
11am-2pm& 4:40pm-8pm
Saturday& SundayALL DAY!
11am-8pmOPEN 7 DAYS
A WEEK11am-9pm
WELCOME BACK ALUMNI!
Fun Atmosphere | Great Daily Deals
515 SOUTH FRONT STREETMANKATO
507.625.9795
Go Mavericks!
forst scored both in the first half, and Bowe scored her first goal of the season in the second half. The Mavericks outshot the Bron-
MEN’S HOCKEY continued from 17
title of preseason favorite.Despite the loss of McInnis,
the Mavericks bring back Leit-ner, who led the Mavs with 45 points last season and logging top minutes on the MSU power play that was fourth best in the nation a year ago. Leitner’s go-to man on the power play last sea-son was LaFontaine, who fin-ished second in the nation with 14 goals on the man advantage last season. These two should combine for a number of power play tallies this season. Though Leitner and LaFontaine are a couple of names Maverick fans expect to put points on the board, they have another emerging star that blossomed in the second half of last season.
Junior Bryce Gervais went on a hot streak towards the end of the season in what was a break out year for the speedy forward. In his last 15 games, Gervais posted 18 points to finish with 26 on the year, including a third-best 16 goals. With these three and a lineup that has another season of experience under their belt, this could be the most potent offense an MSU team has ever seen.
On the back end, the Mav-ericks return two senior defen-seman in Palmquist and Brett Stern, who will captain the Mav-ericks this winter. The Mavs also lost two defenseman over the summer as Mat Knoll left the team to return to his Canada and
finish his schooling, while Jon Jutzi left the team for personal reasons, but stated he will return in spring semester. Knoll played in 11 games last season, often at forward, while Jutzi was a regu-lar, playing in all 41 games last season. Sophomore and alternate captain Carter Foguth and junior Blake Thompson bring size to the blueline, while sophomore Casey Nelson brings a puck moving, of-fensive flare to the backend.
Despite a very well rounded lineup, between the pipes may be the brightest spot on this Maver-ick squad. MSU has not one, but
two WCHA Goaltender of the Year award winners. Sophomore goaltender Cole Huggins won the award as a freshman last season after junior Stephon Williams accomplished that same feat the prior season, also as a freshman. Both are very capable net mind-ers, but Huggins looks to be the starter to begin this season.
Posting a stingy 1.88 goals against average and an impres-sive .926 save percentage, Hug-gins led the Mavs to the NCAA tournament after starting the sea-son as a backup to Williams. His six shutouts last season marked
a school record for single season shutouts, and if he remains con-sistent, the starting job is his to lose.
As a whole, this Maverick team may be the deepest lineup MSU has seen during the divi-sion I era, which places some high expectations on the boys from Mankato. They’ll first get to showcase their talent on Sun-
day at the Verizon Wireless Cen-ter in downtown Mankato when Trinity Western (British Colum-bia) comes to town for an exhi-bition matchup slated for a 5:07 p.m. puck drop.
The regular season begins for the Mavericks in a nonconfer-ence series with an old confer-ence opponent at the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 10.
Gardenhire fired after 12 seasons with TwinsMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — He
was the third base coach who gave Kirby Puckett a high-five to punctuate his winning homer in Game 6 of the 1991 World Se-ries.
He was the trusting candidate who took Minnesota’s manag-ing job when many thought the Twins were about to be contract-ed in 2002.
He was the affable everyman who presided over the team’s turn-of-the-century renaissance and turned the AL doormat into a six-time division champion.
Ron Gardenhire was just about everything in the 27 years he spent in the Twins organiza-tion. But even he couldn’t sur-vive the worst four-year stretch in franchise history.
The Twins fired Gardenhire on Monday, saying it was time for a new voice after his 13-year tenure concluded with 383 losses over the last four seasons.
“The reason for this change, I think it’s safe to say, the last couple years we have not won enough games,” Twins gen-eral manager Terry Ryan said. “That’s what it comes down to. It’s nothing more, nothing less than that.”
The move was made with one season left on Gardenhire’s contract, ending the second-lon-gest active tenure in the major
leagues behind Mike Scioscia of the Angels.
Gardenhire played an inte-gral role in the franchise’s turn-around, guiding the Twins to the playoffs six times in nine seasons from 2002-10. But Gardenhire’s teams only got out of the first round once, and his postseason record was 6-21 with the last win coming in 2004.
The Twins have long been the model of stability in not only baseball but major professional sports, with only two managers over the last 28 years and two general managers over the last 20 seasons.
But all the losing of late be-came too much to overcome. Over the last four years, the Twins went 78-148 from Aug. 1 on for an abysmal .345 winning percentage.
“I’m gone, I’m outta here be-cause we didn’t win,” Gardenhire said. “That’s what it gets down to in baseball. That’s what it should get down to. You have to win on the field and these last four years have been tough for all of us.”
The Twins finished this sea-son at 70-92, making Gardenhire just the fourth manager in the game’s history to preside over at least four straight 90-loss sea-sons with the same team, joining Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics (nine), Zach Taylor of
the St. Louis Browns (four) and his predecessor with the Twins, Tom Kelly (four). Kelly returned for one more season after his streak, and he retired after an 85-77 finish in 2001.
“One of the things we hope to get back to here is a winning cul-ture across our organization, and not just with the major leagues,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said, later adding, “That’s clearly one of the goals with this move is to jumpstart that. Not to say that Ron wasn’t capable of that ... but I think we believe very strongly that we’ve gotten away from that in recent years.”
In an era when job security for managers is seemingly mea-sured in months, Gardenhire’s longevity has been truly unique. The outspoken and fiery Gar-denhire quickly became one of the faces of the franchise, as synonymous with the Twins as the interlocking T and C on their caps. He took over for the re-vered Kelly, who won two World Series championships, just as the organization was starting to re-gain its footing after years of bad baseball.
“I feel like he’s my brother, not my manager,” said a glassy-eyed Ryan, who has known Gardenhire dating to their days together in the New York Mets system in the 1980s.
Ryan spent some time away from the organization this year to get treatment for cancer. He said Monday that a recent physi-cal came back favorable and that he will return to the Twins next season.
Ryan offered Gardenhire a chance to remain in the organi-zation, but Gardenhire doesn’t believe he’s done managing just yet.
“I would have loved to have won a World Series, but that didn’t happen,” Gardenhire said. “Maybe it’s still to come.”
Gardenhire clashed with some players over the years, but there was an expectation and hope among the players that he would return.
“We as players had a respon-sibility to the organization, fans, and coaches to win this season,” starting pitcher Phil Hughes tweeted. “We failed.”
Gardenhire joined the organi-zation in 1987 and was added to Kelly’s staff in 1991. His record as Twins manager was 1,068-1,039. He won the American League Manager of the Year award in 2010, the last time the Twins not only made the playoffs but had a winning record.
“As good as it gets in my opinion. Comes to the park ready to win each and every day. Kind of a players’ manager,” second
baseman Brian Dozier said last week. “Always in good spirits. He knows the game better than anybody I’ve been around. I 100 percent want him back.”
The contracts of Gardenhire’s coaches were expiring, but some of them could be brought back. Bench coach Paul Molitor is sure to be considered for Gardenhire’s replacement, but Ryan’s search will spread outside the organiza-tion, too.
“Sometimes people need to hear a different voice,” Garden-hire said. “They need a new face. I just want this organization to win; I’ll be rooting just like ev-erybody else.”
The run of futility has disil-lusioned a once-passionate fan base, with attendance in Target Field’s fifth year the lowest for the Twins since 2004.
Owner Jim Pohlad said dwin-dling attendance had “virtually zero” impact on the decision and they would have brought Gar-denhire back next season if Ryan recommended it.
“He connected with me and our family way more than any single person in our entire career as owners of the team,” Pohlad said. “He’s just a special guy. He’s loved. He’s loved by us. I’ll always remember him as a win-ner.”
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 Sports MSU Reporter • 23
(507) 625-7711 Hilltop or Campus
ANY PIZZAS ORDERED ONLINE @ DOMINOS.COM
50% OFF(Available Hilltop location only)
HOMECOMING SPECIAL
Play it safe this week and get your Pizza Delivered!
Code: 9413
For Technical Support call 507-625-7711
WOMEN’S SOCCER “We have a lot of depth this season,” head coach Brian Bahl said. “There is so much athleticism and speed on this team.”continued from 17
Trevor Cokley • MSU ReporterOver their last four wins, the Mavericks have outscored their opponents 17-2.
Molly McGough
forst scored both in the first half, and Bowe scored her first goal of the season in the second half. The Mavericks outshot the Bron-
cho’s 20-7 and had 11 shots on goal compared to UCO’s two.
The ladies came to Mankato for their first home game of the
season, cruising to another 3-0 win over Concordia-St. Paul. Molly McGough got her third straight shutout of the season.
Dana Savino scored her first two goals of the season, and Kron-forst added another. Both teams were scoreless going into the sec-
ond half, but the Mavericks took over from there.
“This team has a lot more ex-perience than last year, and we are seeing that as the year pro-gresses,” Bahl said.
Then no. 7 Minnesota State had a stunner, as they beat the number 1 seed Grand Valley State 1-0 in a gritty match. The Maverick’s started the season with four shutouts, and this one was an all-around effort by the Mavs. MSU had many scoring chances early, but nothing to show for it. Goalkeeper Molly McGough stood her ground how-ever, and remained solid against scoring chances for GVSU. The Mavericks stepped up the pres-sure and made things finally hap-pen in the second half when Ki-
ana Nickel made the perfect pass to Korey Kronforst to put MSU up 1-0 in the 82nd minute. It was so far the win of the season for this team, and definitely a confi-dence booster no doubt.
The Mavericks followed up taking the next 4 games as well, with an 8-1 win over Sioux Falls, 2-0 over Southwest Minnesota State, 4-1 over Bemidji and 3-0 over Minnesota-Crookston. They have outscored their oppo-nents this season by a whopping tally of 25-2. Their next game is their homecoming game Octo-ber 4th against MSU Moorhead. When asked about the teams’ goals, there was no hesitation from head coach Brian Bahl.
“Realistically, we as a team believe in our journey. The journey starts with winning our regional championship, then conference championship and finishing off with a national title. These girls have grown together as a team, and when you can have that and the skillset they all bring to the table something spe-cial comes of it.”
As a team, the Mavs are aver-aging about three goals a game without allowing any. They only have one penalty against them this season, which shows how mature and disciplined this squad is. Kronforst leads the team with eight goals scored, and Moris leads the team in assists with six.
MEN’S HOCKEY continued from 17
24 • MSU Reporter Advertisement Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Largest Selection. Low Prices. Every Day.
1755 Commerce Dr., N. Mankato
(507) 387-2634
Belle Mar Mall, Mankato
(507) 625-2420
Hwys. 169 & 99, St. Peter
(507) 934-8964
OPEN: 8am-10pm, Mon.-Sat.Quality Products! Quantity Discounts!
We Beat Local Advertised Prices!Prices good through November 20th, 2010.
*Just supply the original competitive ad and MGM Liquour Warehouse will beat any current local retail liquor store ad for any identical item in stock. No rainchecks. Subject to availability. No clearances, percentages off, close-outs or going-out-of-business sales or itesm will be honored. We reserve the rigfht to limit quantities. Not responsible for typographical errors. Prices good at all participating locations. We beat locally advertising prices (as allowed by law).
SALE DATES: SEPTEMBER 27TH-OCTOBER 4TH
HOMECOMINGSPECIALS
JAEGERMEISTER
LITER
$1695
CAPTAIN MORGAN SPICED RUM
LITER
$1995
STELLA ROSE WINE
SELECT VARITIES750ML
$995
MILLER LITE, MILLER GENUINE DRAFT, OR MILLER 64
24 PACK 12 OZ. CANS
$1595
WINDSOR CANADIAN WHISKEY
REGULAR OR FLAVORS1.75 LITER
$1395
BIRD DOG WHISKEY
ALL TYPES750ML
$1295
ARBOR MIST WINE
ALL VARITIES1.5 LITER
$595
1.75 LITER
$1495
VERDISPARKLING WINE
SELECT VARITIES750ML
$495
RISATA WINE
ALL TYPES750ML
$1095
SAUZA HORNITOSTEQUILA PLATA
750ML
$1495
GRAIN BELT PREMIUM
24 PACK BOTTLES
$1695
COORS REGULAR OR LIGHT
18 PACK 16 OZ. CANS
$1495
DR. MCGILLICUDDY'S SCHNAPPS
LITER
$1295
GOMAVS!
RED DOG
30 PACK CANS
$1295
ALASKAN CRAFT BEERS
ASSORTED12 PACK BOTTLES
$1195
LABATT BLUE REGULAR OR LIGHT
12 PACK BOTTLES
$995
NEW AMSTERDAMGIN OR VODKA
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 MSU Reporter • 25
Email the A&E Editor:[email protected]
507-389-5157
Follow the Reporteron Twitter
@MSU Reporter orLike Us on Facebook
facebook.com/msureporter
Cast, crew and costumes come together to bring fairytale to life at MSU.
Behind the scenes, the magic is real
LORIEN MEGILLStaff Writer
A Tale as Old as Time comes to Minnesota State Mankato Disney’s Beauty and the Beast opens October 2 in the Ted Paul theatre of the Earley Center for Performing Arts. The Tony Award winning stage version of this Academy Award win-ning animated film will run for a total of ten shows, showcasing the hard work of a large group of
talented performers, directors, and designers. Filled with the iconic songs by Alan Menken
and Howard Ashman featured in the movie, and additional songs by Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice written especially for the stage production, this show tells the story of Belle, a well-read young girl who dreams of adventure outside of her small town but ends up trading her future to save her father from a horrible beast. Once in her new home she discovers that all is not what it seems as she steps into a world where objects that should
be inanimate come to life, and books should never be judged by their covers. Leigh Jacobson,
a senior BFA Musical Theatre candidate from Champlin takes on the role of Belle. Jacobson de-scribed Belle and why she’s such a beloved character:
“One of my favorite traits of Belle is her strength. She is spunky and stands up for her-self. I also love how hopeful she is. She sees the bright side in almost every situation she is put into throughout the show.”
Playing Belle is a bit of a daunting task as this princess is an extremely recognizable char-acter. Jacobson acknowledged these challenges saying, “I’ve definitely faced some challeng-es trying to capture the “clas-sic” Belle and still incorporate my own, unique acting choices. There is a certain standard that people need to have with a Dis-ney princess, but I also didn’t want to replicate what everyone else done who has ever played Belle. It’s been difficult for me to find that happy medium, but I think I finally have a handle on it.” She appeared last season as “Cosette” in Les Misérables and in the ensemble of The Drowsy Chaperone. She has also per-formed as “Connie MacKenzie” in A Chorus Line, “Anna” in Spring Awakening and in the en-semble of Legally Blonde. She made her debut as part of High-land Summer Theatre this past summer as “Natalie” in Next to Normal and “Penny Pingleton” in Hairspray.
One of the enchanted objects that Belle encounters in the
home of the Beast is Lumiere, a most hospitable candlestick who leads the ensemble in “Be Our Guest,” one of the shows most recognizable and high-energy songs. The number features the chorus dressed as plates, nap-kins, and all manner of house-hold items, who dance and sing their way across the stage while inviting Belle for dinner and a show. Leigh Jacobson said the number was one of her favorite parts:
“I love the musical number “Be Our Guest,” because it is such a fun, energetic number with almost the whole cast.”
Ben Stasny, the senior BFA Acting candidate playing Lumi-
ere, says of the song, “My favorite part about the
show is singing ‘Be Our Guest,’ it is such an iconic song and I feel honored that I get to be the one to help bring it to life in this production.”
Ben’s previous roles include “Aldolpho” in The Drowsy Chaperone, “Thenardier” in Les Misérables, and “Sir Robin” in Monty Python’s Spamalot.
Costuming plays a huge part in fully transporting the audi-ence into the world of motherly teapots and grandstanding can-dlesticks. Unlike another grand production, Les Misérables,
Erin Horst
BEAUTY • Page 27
Leigh Jacobson
26 • MSU Reporter A&E Tuesday, September 30, 2014
LOCATED IN UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL
625-WINE(9463)
STORE HOURS: 10AM-10PM MON.-SAT.
MILLER LITE COORS LIGHT
18 PACK16 OZ. CANS
24 PACK12 OZ. CANS
$1399
GOOD LUCK MAVERICKS!
KARKOV VODKA RON DIAZ SPICED RUM
1.75 LITER 1.75 LITER
$1099 $1299
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @STADIUMSPIRITS
$1699with purchase of itemand a drink
Burrito Wings Mexican Grill is
Bbuy
Oone
Gget
Oone
302 Stadium Road, Mankato507-779-7148
Also serving margaritas, domestic & imported beer
NOW OPEN!
Eberline & Houtsma’s beat on the new Fox prequel series.
Gotham double take
I’ll be honest. When I first heard that Fox was developing a TV show set in a pre-Batman Gotham City, I was skeptical. I thought for sure Gotham could offer nothing more than a cheap-ly crafted, cliché-ridden night-mare. And while the pilot does suffer from a few cringe-worthy moments, ultimately I found it to be a pleasant surprise.
Minor spoilers aheadThe story begins with a young
cat-burglar and pickpocket, Se-lina Kyle — played by Cam-eron Bicondova — who will
one day become the infamous Catwoman. Feeding one of her cats in a dark alleyway, Selina becomes a witness to that piv-otal moment in Gotham City’s history — the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. The scene itself is a tense and even brutal de-piction of the moment that will forever change young Bruce (David Mazouz), whose terrified scream would give chills to even the most grizzled fans. However, Selina’s presence seems strange, even tacked-on. This scene sig-nifies the transformation that begins inside Bruce, and see-ing it from Selina’s perspective
Fox’s new show Gotham, fo-cusing on the famous fictional home to Batman and the years leading up to his appearance, was a hit before it even debuted. Headed by Rome showrunner Bruno Heller, the newest Bat-man adaptation was ordered to series in no time flat and was the focus of a landmark deal with Netflix before even premiering. The network is clearly showing a lot of confidence that their new-est flagship show will be a hit.
While the prospect of seeing more Batman on TV should be
enough to draw in a lot of view-ers, the pilot for the series leaves much to be desired. While only one episode in, and not without its charms, Gotham is going to need to step up its game if it wants to keep people tuning in every week.
Picking up right away with the murder of Thomas and Mar-tha Wayne, Gotham follows ide-alistic, brooding detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), new to the Gotham police force, as he’s paired with the morally flexible detective Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) to solve the Wayne mur-ders. By peeking under the sur-face of this crime, Gordon soon
realizes that wheels within wheels are turning in Gotham’s underworld and nobody is safe from the repercussions of crime in Gotham.
It’s clear from the very first shot of the Batman-less Bat-man series that this show has serious money behind it. A lot of time and care was put the look of the show, as the sweep-ing cityscape and grungy back alleys meet somewhere in the middle of Burton’s gothic films and Nolan’s grounded trilogy. Cinematography, costumes, sets – all great.
JAMES HOUTSMAEditor in Chief
MATTHEW EBERLINEStaff Writer
GOTHAM • Page 29
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 A&E MSU Reporter • 27
SALEBuy 3 - get 1 freeALL USED CD-LP-DVDFREE ITEM MUST BE OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE THAN THE
OTHER ITEMS. NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS.
507-625-6507630 N. Riverfront Drive
REGULARSTORE HOURS:
10AM-6PMMON.-SAT.
12PM-5PMSUNDAY
WE BUY & SELLNEW & USED
CDS, LPS & DVDS
rrs TM
507-388-6885
Since 1903Visit www.mettlersbar.comand Like Us on Facebook
Downtown Mankato117 SOUTH FRONT STREET
(Must be 21 and older with valid ID)
MSU HOMECOMING 2014
WELCOME BACK MSU ALUMNITHURSDAY NIGHT | 9-CLOSE | COLLEGE NIGHTShow your college ID with a valid state ID & get free cover charge. Must be 21 & older.
FRIDAY NIGHT | PRE-HOMECOMING GAME PARTY TIMEStop in for some great drinks, table dances. The grill is open till 1:00 am. Great burgers and prime rib.
SATURDAY NIGHTThe ladies start @ 5:00. Prime rib dinner special.Wet-t-shirt contest presented by Jägermeister.
OPEN @ 3:30 PM | HAPPY HOURSTHE LADIES START @ 5:00 | 8-15 LADIES LIVE ON STAGE
there is a playfulness and imagi-nation allowed in set design, costuming and rehearsal. Spe-cial costumes for the Enchanted Objects are on loan for the show, including the costumes for Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, plates, car-
pets and a giant cheese grater. Despite the size of the objects, actors wearing the larger than life pieces still manage to per-form ballet and acrobatic moves for the show’s musical numbers.
Many of the actors have to learn how to work within their costumes and utilize different
aspects of physicality while other body parts are restricted. Lumi-ere, is a strong example of this as he has candles in place of his hands. Stasny talked about the lack of ability to use his hands in the costume: “I discovered that I
have to make my gestures pretty grandiose in order to point or in-dicate to things or people. With the assistance of my flashlights, I am now able to highlight (no pun intended) certain words in order to emphasize them like I would if I were gesturing with my normal hands. Actually it
seems stranger using my hands to act than not at this point.” It is costumes such as this that make this show stand out, not only for the extraordinary music, but also for the extraordinary spectacle presented to the audience over the course of the show. Mdm de la Grand Bouche, the opera-singing wardrobe played by Erin Horst, wears a similarly stunning costume. Erin Horst is a first-year MFA Musical Theatre candidate from Vin-ton, Iowa, making her Minnesota State Mankato debut as Mdm de la Grand Bouche. Before coming to Mankato, Horst’s fa-vorite past roles include “Cathy” in The Last Five Years at the Opera House in Elkader, IA, “Maggie” in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at the Grand Opera House in Dubuque and “Jo March” in Little Women with the Loras Players. She is excited about her first show here saying, “The music is beautiful, the charac-ters are a blast, and the set and costumes are stunning. I can’t wait for everyone to see the final product. It’s truly an enchanting production.”
Horst as Mdm de la Grand Bouche will be impossible to
miss, because she is a giant wardrobe, complete with draw-ers filled with costumes from her days as an opera star (be-fore she was transformed into a wardrobe of course). The cos-tume presents acting challenges all its own, while also having the potential to increase the charac-ter. Like Stasny’s costume, the wardrobe has allowed Horst to explore characterization in new ways. In regard to the scope and intricacy of the costume, she said,
“Once the costume came it
changed everything, as I ex-pected it would. It’s difficult to move in, and incredibly heavy,
but it looks amazing. What I lose in physical characterization I make up with my voice and facial expressions. I’ve been re-hearsing this way, so it wasn’t a terrible shock once I put on the real costume. I had to make some adjustments with the way I move around. I don’t have as much arm mobility as I’ve been rehearsing with, but that just makes things more interesting. I think the audience will enjoy it. It’s a very beautiful costume.”
Eberline & Houtsma’s beat on the new Fox prequel series.
Gotham double take
Ben Stasney
BEAUTY “I love the musical number “Be Our Guest,” because it is such a fun, energetic number with almost the whole cast.”
continued from 25
Photos Courtesy of Mike Lagerquist
GOTHAM • Page 29 BEAUTY • Page 31
28 • MSU Reporter A&E Tuesday, September 30, 2014
TWIN CITIES SERVICESMSP Airport
Select Downtown Service (Minneapolis & St. Paul)
Train Connections to The Mall of America and Event Centers
Autumn is finally here in Mankato, Minnesota, and with the winter months just around the corner, local cyclists have just a few more weeks to enjoy the area trails and the last biking event of the season to celebrate the outdoors with fellow enthu-siasts.
The Mankato River Ramble
offers four beautiful routes in and around Mankato, each of-fering its own scenic views and locations.
The Minneopa Falls Loop will take riders on a 12-mile, traffic-free route to the Minneo-pa State Park, returning on the Red Jacket Trail.
The Pie Run is a 26-mile ride that includes 18 miles of trails, leading out to the Rapidan Rest Stop for a delicious slice of
homemade pie.The Lake Crystal Loop offers
a longer, 42-mile trek on the Red Jacket Trail and downhill on the rustic Judson Hill,
The Garden City Hilly Half-Century is a terrific challenge for ace riders, start out early and take the route out to tiny Garden City.
This “rolling festival of fun” will be featuring local music from Mankato’s best bands plus treats and coffee from Peace Cof-fee and the Saint Peter Co-Op. The Organic Cowboys , String Theory, and The Fabulous Fat-heads will be playing at Land of Memories; Dan Duffy Orchestra will be in full swing at the Min-neopa Park rest stop; Bullypulpit Bluegrass Band will be waiting at the Rapidan Dam stop; Lake Crystal will host Raven Moon Rising; and Good Night, Gold Dust will close out the ride at Minnemishinona Falls.
Local destinations on the route include Minneopa State Park, Rapidan Dam, Lake Crys-tal, Minnemishinona Falls.
Student rates are available and the event now offers free rides to children age 17 and un-der, see registration and waivers online. Pricing and registration
Mankato River Ramble offers local music, autumn scenery and much more.
I want to ride my bicycle
RAE FRAMEA&E Editor
are available online at BikeRiv-erRamble.org.
Those looking for volunteer opportunities are encouraged to visit BikeRiverRamble.org for more information.
Check in for the ride begins
October 5 at 8 a.m. at the Land of Memories park just off HWY 169.
With questions, contact the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota 952.882.3180 or visit BikeRiver-Ramble.org
Phtos Courtesy of the Patty Soldner and the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 A&E MSU Reporter • 29
$10 OFFANY
PIERCING(MINIMUM OF $50)
$20 OFFANY
TATTOO(MINIMUM OF $100)
307 N. RIVERFRONT DR., MANKATO, MN 56001OPEN MON.-SAT. 12-8
507-387-6601www.cactustattoo.com
I felt somewhat detached from Bruce’s experience.
Other familiar faces ap-pear as the show progresses, including rookie detective and main protagonist, James Gor-don (Ben McKenzie). Gordon’s honest cop mentality ruffles the feathers of his partner, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), a cor-rupt cop who wants nothing to do with the investigation of the Wayne murders. The chemistry
between the actors, McKenzie and Logue, works pretty well, and creates a believable partner-ship between Gordon and Bull-ock.
Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) shows up as an underling serving crime boss, Fish Mooney — played master-fully by Jada Pinkett Smith — who operates under the Falcone crime family, led by the ruthless Carmine Falcone (John Doman). Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) also makes an appear-ance in a rather cringe-worthy scene, which makes his future transformation into the Riddler glaringly obvious.
Robin Lord Taylor gives a great performance as the young Oswald Cobblepot, who has al-ready garnered the derogatory nickname, “Penguin,” before his rise to power and infamy. Though he appears to serve his boss, Fish Mooney, with the ut-most loyalty, it becomes clear early-on that Cobblepot has higher aspirations.
At times, Gotham’s script feels like it needs a little work, with the occasional clichéd line or over explanatory dialogue. However, given the amount of world-building the first episode
Several performances and characters stand out early on, too. Logue could very well end up stealing the show from the sullen McKenzie as a more charismatic character. We may just have a great new portrayal of The Penguin, as Robin Lord Taylor plays the iconic villain in his early days as a thug in training as both sycophantic and explosively violent. Jada Pinkett Smith also gets to chew some scenery as mobster and new character Fish Mooney.
If Gotham takes advantage of its better players and contin-ues looking awesome, there’s definitely room to flourish. What kills things out of the gate is the ridiculous amount of frontloading going in epi-sode one. In the first hour, in addition to the core cast, we’re given foreshadowing to what feels like every Batman char-acter ever. Nods to Poison Ivy, Riddler, The Joker (?) all pop up for no reason. Meanwhile, Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Bruce Wayne both join the main cast, essentially as little kid versions of their grown up selves. It’s hard to imagine there’s a ton of growth on the horizon for either, as the very first scene sees Kyle already in her Catwoman act and young Bruce all but begins train-ing to be Batman by the end. For further explanation, refer
to the Star Wars prequels for an example of why you don’t make little kid versions of any character.
The main draw of Gotham’s story at this point is not the Batman nods, rather the police procedural at play. Surprising, right? If the showrunners can put more focus on that instead of heavy-handedly telegraph-ing every character in the Bat-man universe, they could be in good shape going forward. While they’re at it, they might as well also focus on adjust-ing some stilted performances and dialogue to make Gotham more than just a routine proce-dural you’d find on any other station.
In the immediate future, Gotham looks to delve into more of The Penguin’s rise to supercriminality, as well as Bruce’s journey into Batman, Gordon’s struggle to clean up the police department and the emergence of Arkham Asylum as a major institution up for grabs in a growing gang war.
With 15 more episodes lined up, Gotham has its work cut out for it, but thankfully also has it’s strengths to build upon.
GOTHAM “It’s clear from the very first shot of the Batman-less Batman series that this show has serious money behind it. A lot of time and care was put the look of the show, as the sweeping cityscape and grungy back alleys meet somewhere in the middle of Burton’s gothic films and Nolan’s grounded tril-ogy.” continued from 26
Mankato River Ramble offers local music, autumn scenery and much more.
I want to ride my bicycle
needs to accomplish in less than an hour, a few rough lines are un-derstandable.
While the pilot episode is a little rough around the edges, Gotham offers an intriguing
premise and delivers. The first episode definitely caught my in-terest and I’m excited to see what else future episodes have in store for the people of Gotham City.
hngn.com
MANKATO, Minn. – Fid-dler/step dancer/singer April Verch performs 7:30 pm Sun-day October 12 with her trio, playing traditional and origi-nal tunes of French Canadian and Celtic roots music. The Performance Series event takes place in the Elias J. Hal-ling Recital Hall of the Earley Center for Performing Arts, 320 Maywood Ave.
Verch is performing in support of her latest album, "Bright Like Gold." Special album guests include Blue-grass Hall of Famer Mac Wiseman, 5-time IBMA ban-jo player of the year Sammy Shelor, and old-time fiddle master Bruce Molsky.
In the second decade of her career as an internation-ally touring Canadian fid-dler, step dancer and singer-songwriter, Verch's music has been described as "Canada's Ottawa Valley meets Old-Time Appalachia." The April Verch Band - rounded out by bassist and clawhammer ban-jo player Cody Walters and guitarist Hayes Griffin - is an energetic, tradition-celebrat-ing outfit, not to mention one that's not soon forgotten when they depart the stage.
Her past has been ex-tremely successful, winning the Canadian Open Old Time
Fiddle Championship while still enrolled in high school. In addition, she later won the Canadian Grand Masters Fid-dling Competition, the only Canadian to win both titles. In addition, April Verch rep-resented Canada's fiddling tradition by performing in the Opening Ceremonies at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
"We make a living play-ing music that we love and it touches other people," Verch says in a press release. "We feel like we're extremely lucky to do that, but also we work really hard, not just at the music, but at every aspect of our career, to make that happen. That we find a way to make it work, and have had that kind of longevity, that's impressive to me."
Concert admission is $15; $13 for students with a valid MavCard. Discount tickets are available online for Uni-versity students. Advance purchase is strongly encour-aged. Those who wish to pur-chase tickets online may go to www.mnsu.edu/music. For more information, call the Performance Series office, (507) 389-5549.
April Verch brings Celtic music, traditions to MSU.
“Canada’s Ottowa Valley meets
Old-Time Appelachia”
30 • MSU Reporter A&E Tuesday, September 30, 2014
from ProGraphix
I am the walrusGrotesque horror comedy starts out right, then flails.
Do you ever lay awake at night, confused and lost, won-dering: is man better than a walrus? Were the Beatles on to something? What happened to Haley Joel Osment?
No, those probably aren’t common concerns but, on the off chance they are, Kevin Smith’s latest horror comedy Tusk should address at least two of those concerns, along with just about every offbeat aspect the kitchen sink could hold.
Tusk is the cautionary story of Wallace (Justin Long). To-gether with his friend (Osment), he runs a podcast that makes fun of people in internet clips. Wallace goes to Canada to meet somebody for a story. After plans change, he ends up in the mansion of an old man (Michael Parks) who promises “a lifetime of stories.” What he ends up giv-ing him is loads of sedatives and a radical, skin-slicing makeover to transform Wallace into a hu-man walrus monstrosity. Never trust the creepy old man with the tea.
Smith originally conceived of Tusk during a discussion on his podcast about a fake craigslist listing that promised housing in exchange for the tenant dressing up like a walrus. If that sounds like flimsy concept for a movie, don’t worry, it completely is. Tusk has some good moments of buildup, shock and humor but Smith throws every trick he can into the film to push things to feature length at the expense of
consistency.With proper story and edit-
ing, the first 40 minutes of Tusk could make a great short horror film in the vein of Tales from the Crypt. There’s a genuine sense of dread as Wallace ventures into rural Canada, approaching his tusk-y fate. Parks, a regular Orson Welles or Vincent Price, hypnotizes with his creepy aura and only gets crazier from there. At least some moments get a chuckle or two and the finished look of the walrus beast is some-
thing that’s not likely to leave your nightmares any time soon.
This first part, though not without its flaws, is enough to inspire some confidence that a good movie might just appear out of this nuttiness. Then at some point the film just unrav-els like a junior high FACs class quilt. Correction it’s not just some point, it’s a very notable point.
Up until the halfway point, Tusk overcame its flaccid com-edy, forced sentiment and in-
JAMES HOUTSMAEditor in Chief
dulgent monologues with some inkling of restraint. Then, in an instant, buildup became gross-out shock, long-winded speeches stopped being justified and Guy LaPointe appeared. Played by a renowned character actor who should just stop doing roles like this (it’s supposed to be a sur-prise, but it’s more just like a
cruel joke), the Quebecois Clou-seau takes the movie beyond far-cical into just plain stupid. After that, every tone ramps up to 11 and none of them mix. Audienc-es in the mood for shock-enter-tainment, a la Human Centipede, should get something out of the film’s later half. Everyone else might simply feel the need for a shower.
Given the right topic, hor-ror comedies can be amazing. Tusk started off in that direc-tion, thanks to great buildup, but quickly lost its way when it tried to do anything and everything. Like the main character, Tusk starts off in good form, sticking to what works, then eventually morphs into a stitched-together blob that can only desperately flail around.
shockya.com
Reporter Rating 2.55
flickeringmyth.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 A&E MSU Reporter • 31
1506 WARREN STREET • MANKATO • MN(Look for our electronic sign!)
507-345-4511WWW.BEACONWELS.ORG
Mondays • Wednesdays ........................................................ Bible StudyTuesdays ..................................................................... Bible Study 11 amWednesdays ........................................................................Vespers 9 pmThursdays ..................................................................$1 Supper 5:30 pm .................................................................................Bible Study 4:45 pm
Staff: Campus Pastor Wong, Reverend Roger Knepprath, Mark Probst, Vicar Allen Kirschbaum, RA Kody Green
CENTER HOURS: 8am-10pmOFFICE HOURS: Monday-Wednesday, 12-5pm; Thursday 9am-9pm
TACO JOHN’S IS NOW HIRING for all shifts. Breakfast, Lunch, and closing shifts available. Apply at 2112 N. Broad St. or at tacojohns.com 10/9
FREE SHOTOKAN KARATE classes offered Monday 6-8 pm, Tuesday 7-9 pm, Thursday 6-8 pm. Room PH 102. Beginners are welcome. Need not to be a MSU student to join. For info call Brad @507-388-5301 or [email protected] or search MSU Shotokan on Facebook or Yahoo Groups. 4/30
HELP WANTED NOTICES
Grotesque horror comedy starts out right, then flails.cruel joke), the Quebecois Clou-seau takes the movie beyond far-cical into just plain stupid. After that, every tone ramps up to 11 and none of them mix. Audienc-es in the mood for shock-enter-tainment, a la Human Centipede, should get something out of the film’s later half. Everyone else might simply feel the need for a shower.
Given the right topic, hor-ror comedies can be amazing. Tusk started off in that direc-tion, thanks to great buildup, but quickly lost its way when it tried to do anything and everything. Like the main character, Tusk starts off in good form, sticking to what works, then eventually morphs into a stitched-together blob that can only desperately flail around.
Last night, while I lay thinking here,some Whatifs crawled inside my earand pranced and partied all night longand sang their same old Whatif song:Whatif I'm dumb in school?Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?Whatif I get beat up?Whatif there's poison in my cup?Whatif I start to cry?Whatif I get sick and die?Whatif I flunk that test?Whatif green hair grows on my chest?Whatif nobody likes me?Whatif a bolt of lightning
strikes me?Whatif I don't grow talle?Whatif my head starts getting smaller?Whatif the fish won't bite?Whatif the wind tears up my kite?Whatif they start a war?Whatif my parents get divorced?Whatif the bus is late?Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?Whatif I tear my pants?Whatif I never learn to dance?Everything seems well, and thenthe nighttime Whatifs strike again!
“Whatif”by Shel Silverstein
BEAUTY ““Once the costume came it changed ev-erything, as I expected it would.””continued from 27
The actors’ choices to utilize and work with their costumes rather than working against them will surely heighten the overall experience of the show.
Another one of the enchant-ed characters audiences will be treated to is the Beast him-self. Second-year MFA Musi-cal Theatre candidate Adam Yankowy plays this monstrous figure with a surprisingly soft heart. Yankowy’s Minnesota State Mankato debut was as “Javert” in Les Misérables, for which he earned a KCACTF Irene Ryan Acting Scholar-ship nomination, (he later ap-peared as “Duke Frederick the Usurper” in As You Like It and “Feldzieg” in The Drowsy Chaperone). Adam has per-formed at the Venetian Hotel and Resort in Macau, China and his New York credits in-clude Carnegie Hall Solo De-but with Essential Voices USA and NY Pops, NYGASP’s productions of Ruddigore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance at NYC Center, The Town Hall’s Broadway’s Ris-ing Stars and Babes in Toy-land at Lincoln Center. He performed regionally in shows including Music Theatre Lou-isville’s Big and Ocean City Theatre’s Oklahoma!. He also appeared in the national tour of Curious George Live!
Belle’s slightly kooky and completely lovable father Maurice adds both humor and warmth to the show. Michael Sheeks, a second-year MFA Directing candidate, is respon-sible bringing Maurice to life
in this production. As a father himself, Sheeks felt a connec-tion to the character, saying, “The role of Maurice includes quite a bit of my own his-tory and experience (though, of course, I’ve never lived in a mythical poor provincial town!) The biggest challenge has been trying to find a bal-ance between having him be goofy and eccentric and also being connected to his daugh-ter, Belle.” As a directing stu-dent Sheeks is enjoying his ex-periences on the stage, stating that, “It’s been fun being on the other side of the director’s clipboard for a while.” His pre-vious roles include “Saunders” in Lend Me A Tenor and vari-ous characters in The Laramie Project.
Adding a true villain to the show is the arrogant and brash Gaston, played by sophomore BFA Musical Theatre candi-date Matthew Stairs in his Min-nesota State Mankato debut. At Casper College in Casper, Wyoming Stairs’ past roles in-cluded “Fredrick Egerman” in A Little Night Music, “Judas/John the Baptist” in Godspell and “Don Lockwood” in Sin-gin’ in the Rain.
The set was designed by MFA student Kate Kanne, whose vision of a pop-up sto-rybook has really brought the story to life on the MSU stage—an excellent approach for translating fairytale to stage. More than 50 students from the Scene Shop theatre class have dedicated their time to the intricate drops and roll-
ing set pieces, but members of the cast have also lent a hand to keep the production on sched-ule.
The strong cast is led by di-rector Paul J. Hustoles, Chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance, and choreographer Linda Talcott Lee who ap-peared in the original Broad-way production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Tickets are available for $22, with a special price of $19 for senior citizens, youth 16 and under, and groups of 15 or more, and $15 for current Minnesota State students. The perfor-mances are at 7:30 on Oct. 2-4 & 9-11, and 2 p.m. on Oct. 4, 5, 11 and 12.
The draw of the show for many, comes from the fantas-tical elements, Michael Sheeks certainly agreed with this, saying: “For myself, I love the whimsical fun of the fantasy created by the enchanted ob-jects and the idea of living to be welcoming.” And this show is full whimsy, heart, and a de-lightful score that will be play-ing pleasantly in your head for days after. Perhaps Erin Horst said it best when she asked, “Who doesn’t love Disney?” Especially when you get to see a beloved classic tale come to life on the stage in front of you. This is truly a theatrical expe-rience you do not want to miss.
32 • MSU Reporter Advertisement Tuesday, September 30, 2014
BARNES & NOBLE AT MINNESOTA STATELocated on campus in the Centennial Student Union building
620 South Road CSU 144 | Mankato, MN 56001Phone 507-389-1649
www.bnctextbookrental.com
Visit the bookstore in the Student Unionand see what we've got to offer!
Order textbooksonline directly from
your e-service account.FAST, EASY, &
CONVENIENT.
The Largest Selection of USED textbooks
What is theMaverick Textbook
Reserve Program?This is a unique program and opportunity
for students choosing to check out expensive textbooks for a couple of hours at a time
in lieu of shelling out large sums of money for the rental, or purchase of a used or new
textbook.
The Minnesota State Student Association (MSSA) is the "lead partner" of the
cooperative arrangement which involves the on-campus bookstore vendor, Barnes
and Noble Bookstore, and Library Services. Without the direct support of these two
partners the program wouldn't be what it is.
• On average Save 50% when Renting Textbooks.• A portion of EVERY sale goes back to the University.
Buy New, Used, Digital,
and Rental books at our bookstore.
Save 25%Buy Used
Textbooks
All the best Minnesota
State University Mankato
Apparel and Gifts.